1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an FM transmitter and, more specifically, to an FM transmitter comprised in the headphone or the ear bud accessories to portable audio players.
2. Description of the Related Art
Although advancements in technology have improved the capabilities of, the styles of and the popularity of portable audio players over the years, the basic purpose has remained the same, that is, to provide persons with a means to listen to music while moving. These means have included the portable transistor radio, the tape cassette player, the compact disc player and, most recently, the digital audio player. Digital audio players enable users to download audio material from an Internet site or a computer hard drive.
The material is stored on a medium in a number of formats until it is repeatedly listened to later. Digital audio players that utilize stored audio sounds (hereinafter “MP3”) are extremely popular and the market is thriving for the portable versions of these devices. Similar to other portable devices, a headphone or a pair of ear buds is the means to listen to the stored music on MP3s; however, there are some disadvantages to the portable MP3. Portable MP3s cannot be utilized in automobiles because of the risks it presents to the driver's safety. The small size and the lightweight characteristics of MP3s, although most advantageous for the purposes of portability and ease, makes it difficult to engineer the device with a speaker powerful enough to broadcast the audio at a volume sufficient for a group of persons.
There is presently known a separate unit that connects to the MP3 so that it can transmit the audio to another FM receiver. A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the present invention; however, the following references were considered related.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,591,085 and U.S. Pub. No. 2004/0,058,649, both to Grady, teaches an FM transmitter having a means in the docking cavity to couple it to an MP3 player. U.S. Pat. No. 7,082,203 to Drakoulis et al. teaches an apparatus for coupling audio players to audio receivers. A disadvantage to these patents is that the transmitter is a separate unit to the audio player.
There is a need for a united means to transmit the audio to an FM receiver and, more specifically, to a means comprised on the MP3. This means is accomplished in the present invention, wherein an FM transmission is comprised in the headset or in the ear bud accessory that plugs into the MP3. The present invention overcomes the disadvantage of attaching a separate unit to an MP3 to transmit the audio to a receiver.